Victoria has eclipsed New South Wales as the nation’s leading state for construction and home loan approvals, latest housing figures show.
The two eastern seaboard behemoths of NSW and Victoria have held the first and second spots on the table for nearly three years, according to the HIA Housing Scorecard released this week.
But thanks to a boom in multi-unit dwelling construction, Victoria has nabbed the top spot as the long standing rivalry between the nation’s two largest capital cities continues.
NSW housing remains strong
Despite an 11 per cent drop in the construction of apartments, HIA NSW executive director David Bare said New South Wales is still building detached houses at a steady rate.
“New South Wales is still going strong. The number of detached houses being built at the moment is comparable with the highest levels that the state has achieved going back more than 30 years,” Bare said.
“Benchmarked against decade averages, New South Wales is the top ranked state for detached house approvals, detached house starts and for the number of detached houses currently under construction.”
With more than 66,000 non-detached dwellings under construction at the end of March 2018, NSW also rated highly across indicators tracking multi-unit building activity.
“Leading indicators of multi-unit activity are not quite as strong as the market is easing back from the 2016 peak. Multi-unit approvals and commencements have slipped back by around 11 per cent over the year. "
HIA executive director Victoria Fiona Nield said the latest level of multi-unit commencements was more than double the state’s decade average.
“It is not just apartments that are being built. The detached housing market in Victoria is also significantly stronger this year than over the past decade.
“The high level of building activity in the sector has created nearly 50,000 jobs in Victoria and as a result, one in ten Victorian workers are employed in the construction sector.”
Related: Melbourne Dominates Australian Building Hotspots List
The HIA housing scorecard gives a state by state comparison of how the residential building market is tracking indicating the overall health of the economy.
South Australia was the most improved state thanks to multi-unit dwelling construction and increasing renovation activity, moving up the ranks by two spots to third place.
Queensland remained in fourth place and Tasmania came in at fifth place.
WA has ranked as the weakest residential building market for eight consecutive quarters, along with the Northern Territory as the nation’s two weakest markets.
